Most of my time these days is given over to writing music for my PhD rather than selling albums on CD, so I’ve decided to change the function of this website somewhat.

From now on, I plan to use the site to document both work in progress and earlier work which stand as precursors to my current efforts. This will take the form of blog posts, audio links and software tools available for download. The aim is to share my ideas with whoever’s interested.

The underlying theme of the work continues to be developing of generative music software (more often than not featuring fuzzy-probabilistic hybrids) and then writing music with it. This includes some SuperCollider work to create and spatialise large sound event-groups from a few samples; and some pieces for instrument (flute and hexaphonic guitar so far) and computer using IRCAM Mubu software.

I’m going to be giving a presentation on nwdlbots at the Max 4 Users convention to be held on January 13-14 2012 at Phoenix Square Arts and Digital Media Center in Leicester, UK. Also there will be David Zicarelli, Julien Bayle, Nick Rothwell and many others giving presentations, workshops and performances.

This episode demonstrates the way in which nwdlbots can interact within a Live Set using two modules called noodle control and noodle send. By attaching noodle sends to each EventBot in a set, you can relay MIDI information to the control module, which collates the information and then feeds it back to the EventBots, informing their decisions regarding onset and pitch.

This allows the bots to work together controlling the density and harmony of the set.

Following the last couple of weeks’ enthusiastic response to nwdlbots 0.1, I’ve decided to open up some forums on this site. So, if want to talk about nwdlbots, ask any questions, post links to tracks you’ve made using the software or even tell me about any bugs, then go to the forums link above.

Here’s the first of a series of tutorials about nwdlbots.This tutorial describes how to build an EventBot from three basic modules: Event Generator, ScaleBot and DynaBot. In future videos, I want to talk about making the bots interact, chord following and a whole bunch of other stuff.

The first group of nwdlbots, my generative modules for Ableton Live are now available for download on this site. You can find the six modules (Event Generator, ScaleBot, DynaBot, Noodle Send, Noodle Control and Chord Sender) packed in single Ableton Live Pack on the download page.

Documentation for the various modules is available from the nwdlbots menu above.

I’m making a bunch of tutorial videos as well and hope to have the first of these online soon.

Here’s a first look at nwdlbots, my suite of generative music devices for Ableton Live. These devices include MIDI event generators, pitch and velocity choosers and others.

As well as generating events at random, nwdlbots can respond to activity on other MIDI tracks in Live, or to input from a MIDI instrument. In effect, nwdlbots control the density of a piece by reducing their activity when things get too busy. They also have some rudimentary ideas about harmony and can follow a chord sequence.

I am building nwdlbots as tools for writing my own music but I hope shortly to make some of them available to other composers through the max for live website.